Africa-Press – Angola. The shortage of maize in the main informal markets in the city of Luena, central Moxico province, is causing inflation in the prices of the cereal product, a situation that worries consumers.
It was found that, about a month ago, cereal, one of the most consumed products in the region, became scarce in the main markets.
A 150-kilogram bag of maize, at the Alto Luena market, the main point of sale of the cereal in the province, from the municipalities of Bundas, Luchazes and the commune of Lucusse (Moxico headquarters), was sold for 24,000 kwanzas, against the previous 12 thousand, registering a variation of 100 percent.
The cereal retailer, Celeste Mandande, confirmed this fact, stating that the movement of vehicles that transport this product from the countryside to the city has reduced considerably in recent weeks.
For this reason, he said that it is difficult to find this product in order to ship it to the provinces of Lunda Sul and Lunda Norte, regions where the cereal has been sold.
This concern was also corroborated by the saleswoman Maria Caumba, stating that the merchants had already sold the product that was reserved.
Grinding operators feel lack of grain
Francisco Wamana, owner of one of the mills in the region, said that he has reduced the process of transforming corn into flour, due to this shortage.
“Normally we work non-stop, given the volume of corn we grind, but today we are only receiving four bags a day”, he said.
On his turn, businessman César Amândio, who invests in the agricultural and livestock sector, in an area of 500 hectares, considered it normal that there is a shortage of corn on the market at this stage of the year, since, he said, production is in the maturation period.
According to the official, who dedicates 40 percent of his project to maize production, he guaranteed that within two months the process of harvesting the cereal could begin, foreseeing large quantities, taking into account the regularity of the rains.
Taking into account the high quantity of products that are expected, the businessman defended the need for owners of agricultural farms in Camaiangala and Sacassange to rent collection equipment, with the aim of facilitating other farmers in the cereal harvesting phase.
The province of Moxico expects to harvest one million, 749 thousand and 112 tons of various agricultural products, in the current 2022/2023 agricultural campaign, in a process in which more than 43 thousand families of small producers are involved.
To this end, 62 thousand and 605 hectares of land were prepared, of which 59 thousand and 49 were done manually, 3 thousand and 464 were mechanized and 92 hectares were used by animal traction, for the production of cassava, maize, banana, peanuts, beans, massango , massambala and citrus.
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